Emilio M. Pérez

(Nano)cookies, anyone? 🍪 🍪 🍪 Check out our sweetest publication to date, in collaboration with Mark Rutland.
Alicia and Marine bake the smallest cookies you'll ever see. Ready to cellebrate Nanoscale Horizons @nanoscale-journals.rsc.org 10th anniversary. #openaccess

pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

MOFs!!!

Thank you for your dedication and your talent, Marina! And best of luck in your new endeavours, you'll do well wherever you go.

Chemistry, Chirality, and Complexity as Concepts in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Research More than 30 years have elapsed since the description of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). Thirty years of intense research effort initially focused on elucidating the outstanding physical properties of SWCNTs, which gave rise to hopes for an immediate technological revolution. In parallel, advancements in synthesis and purification procedures afforded ever better samples of SWCNTs. A deeper understanding of the difficulties in exploiting the extraordinary intrinsic properties of SWCNTs and the advent of graphene marked the end of the hype. SWCNTs have now stepped out of the valley of disillusionment and are firmly climbing the slope of enlightenment. In this review, we highlight three broad concepts that we believe will permeate research in SWCNTs for the next few years: chemistry, chirality, and complexity. The quality of commercially available SWCNT samples, coupled with advances in characterization techniques, particularly microscopy, facilitates complex chemical derivatization of SWCNTs with reliable structural characterization. The endohedral modification of SWCNTs, inclusion of quantum defects, and synthesis of mechanically interlocked derivatives are illustrative examples. We also overview how enantiomeric resolution of SWCNTs enables new fields of research such as chiral sensing, catalysis, and spin filtering. Complexity, once seen as an enemy, now shows promise in several fields, as exemplified by physically unclonable functions and neuromorphic computing. These three axes, controlled chemical modification, chiral discrimination, and system-level complexity, are increasingly interwoven, defining an emerging research landscape for SWCNTs. Taken together, they offer a framework for reimagining the roles of SWCNTs in both fundamental science and technology. We hope this review inspires innovative research lines and encourages young scientists to focus on SWCNTs.

We have put together some ideas that we find exciting for the future of #SWCNT research: pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.....
These three C's are all over our current lines of research. Our intention here is to communicate that excitement, share ideas, and hopefully inspire other groups as well.

Yesterday our work in collaboration with the group of Luigi Sangaletti was featured in @ondacero.es radio! Listen to the clip (in Spanish) and find all the relevant information here:

nanociencia.imdea.org/outreach/in-...

"Los modelos de lenguaje no planifican; generan textos que parecen planes.

Los modelos de lenguaje no resuelven problemas; generan textos que parecen soluciones.

Los modelos de lenguaje no piensan; generan textos que parecen como si lo hicieran."

Andriy Burkov

Check out ITSEO's Nanochemistry Camp 2025:

www.istiseo.org/courses/nano...

What an absolute privelege to be part of such an outstanding line-up of speakers, including NP winner Morten Meldal!

Register for a Nanochemistry treat this autumn 🍁

Congratulations, Steve!

A breath of fresh tech—carbon nanotube sensors sniff out gases with unprecedented precision A team of researchers at IMDEA Nanociencia institute and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore has unveiled a new class of gas sensors based on MINT-functionalized carbon nanotubes, offering unpreceden...

Un soplo de tecnología fresca — Una nueva “nariz electrónica” detecta gases con una precisión sin precedentes.

👃Hasta ppb de dióxido de nitrógeno, amoniaco o acetona. #NanotubosCarbono

Una investigación de @emiliomperezlab.bsky.social @imdeananociencia.bsky.social

phys.org/news/2025-06...

a cartoon of homer simpson sniffing something with his mouth open ALT: a cartoon of homer simpson sniffing something with his mouth open

In this work, we build a room-temp electronic nose using MINT-based chemiresistors. It is selective, fast, and works with low power. It distinguishes vapors like NH₃, NO₂, acetone, and even breath-relevant mixtures like acetone/IPA/EtOH!!
I smell a bright future for MINTs in sensing!
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Carbon Nanotube Chemical Sensors Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) promise to advance a number of real-world technologies. Of these applications, they are particularly attractive for uses in chemical sensors for environmental and health monito...

SWNTs are great for sensing as they are literally all surface, so they are very responsive. As a downside of their extreme sensitivity, SWNT sensors are typically not very selective. pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
By making MINTs with the right design, the selectivity problem can be tackled.
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Efficient Implementation of MINT-Based Chemiresistor Arrays for Artificial Olfaction We demonstrate the possibility of using an array of MINT-based chemiresistors for the selective detection of VOCs at room temperature. Four new types of MINTs with different functional groups (MINTALKENE (X:–CH = CH2), MINTCOOMe (X:–COOMe), MINTCOOH (X:–COOH), and MINTOH (X:–CH2OH)) were specifically synthesized to prepare a set of six sensing layers, which included, in addition to the new MINTs, a pristine SWNTs layer and a MINTXYLENE layer. The functionalized sensing layers were tested by exposing them to NH3, NO2, EtOH, IPA, acetone, benzene, and NaClO vapors in the ppm range. We showed that MINT functionalization enhances response to analytes with respect to pristine SWNTs. When assembled into an array, our sensing layers can operate at room temperature as an electronic nose, disclosing the possibility of using these layers in low-power-consumption wearable devices. Correlation plots, PCA, and UMAP analysis show that a remarkable discrimination of ammonia with respect to interfering gases can be reached by the e-nose. Gas mixtures were also discriminated, as shown for NH3/ethanol, acetone/ethanol, and isopropanol/acetone mixtures, which are relevant in view of breathomics applications. The efficient preparation method of sensing layers allows for an improvement of performance, as shown for one of the best performing chemiresistors in the set, resulting in a sensitivity increase (up to 10×) and a dramatic reduction of response and recovery times.

🔊 Just out in @jacs.acspublications.org! The results of a fruitful collaboration with the group of L. Sangaletti at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
MINTs sniff out VOCs 👃
pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
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Have you bought your seat for Mars yet?

Benzene at 200 Celebrating the molecule that changed the world

Benzene is 200! (Or rather, our knowledge of it is.)
www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/benz...

Not going back: Unidirectional movement by intramolecular one-way ratcheting of functionalized cyclodextrin The achievement of unidirectional molecular movement is a significant challenge due to competition by Brownian motion. Nature can overcome this proble…

More than happy to share this work on the unidirectional movement of a functional cyclodextrin on an axle in Chem @cp-chem.bsky.social ‬ ! Congratulation to @enxuliu.bsky.social and all the team!!! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @ipcm-sorbonne.bsky.social @sorbonne-universite.fr

Hey @ISMSC2025 attendees, have you met Louis?
If you want to hear about helical foldamers that form homo- and heteroduplexes through complementary interactions, go talk to him! :-)
By the way, Louis will defend his PhD dissertation at the end of October... just saying!

Ultrashort Carbon Nanotubes with Luminescent Color Centers Are Bright NIR-II Nanoemitters In the fields of bioimaging, photonics, and quantum science, it is equally crucial to combine high brightness with a nanoscale size in short-wave infrared (SWIR) emitters. However, such nanoemitters a...

🔥 Our latest research on ultrashort carbon nanotubes (uCCNTs) with luminescent color centers has been published in ACS Nano! We've discovered that these uCCNTs are exceptionally bright in the NIRII window, making them ideal for advanced bioimaging, photonics, and quantum science applications.

The invited speaker line-up for POLYMAT Spotlight 2026 is now complete!

📅 29 June – 2 July, 2026 | 🌐#POLYMATsptl
🔗 polymat-spotlight.eu

👏👏👏 Bravo chicas!!!

www.rtve.es/deportes/202...

Streamlined Identification of Metallopeptides for Intracellular Catalysis Using Positionally Addressable Combinatorial Libraries The discovery and development of artificial catalysts to carry out bioorthogonal reactions in living cells is a primary goal at the interface of Chemistry and Biology. Current approaches rely on time-...

We're excited to share our latest paper, just accepted in ACS Catalysis! 🎉 in which we describe how positionally addressable peptide libraries (SPOT libraries) can be used to discover artificial metallopeptide catalysts that work inside living cells. 👇 #ChemSky

pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

I wish...

a cartoon character is asking the question why . ALT: a cartoon character is asking the question why .

Receives paper for refereeing with figures at the end of the manuscript.

Zoom Earth | Live Weather Map & Hurricane Tracker Interactive world weather map. Track hurricanes, cyclones, storms. View LIVE satellite images, rain radar, forecast maps of wind, temperature for your location.

Is this zoom.earth/maps/ more fun than netflix, youtube and spotify combined? Yes, yes it is

Congratulations to @ciqus.bsky.social, excellent choice! And best of luck to @diegopena.bsky.social 👏👏👏

Enhorabuena, Eugenio!!

Sin las mujeres, la ciencia pierde un valor esencial para avanzar.

IMDEA Nanociencia destaca el trabajo de las mujeres en la investigación a través de diversas iniciativas.
Consulta más sobre Perspectiva de Género en Investigación en: www.nanociencia.imdea.org/es/projects-... #8M

Mechanically interlocked derivatives of carbon nanotubes: synthesis and potential applications Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) present one of the most interesting collections of properties among nanomaterials. Some sort of chemical modification of SWNTs is often used as a strategy to mak...

With this method in place, we can think of using MINTs (pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...) in real-world applications like the reinforcement of polymers advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

5/5.

Multigram Scale Synthesis of Mechanically‐Interlocked Derivatives of SWNT Using Mechanochemical Methods The grinding of chemical reagents enables mixing, promotes molecular collisions, and provides the thermal energy required for chemical reactions, while reducing the need for solvent (often to none) a...

And this is to produce MINTs using mechanochemistry. The method is fast, scalable, cheap and environmentally friendly. It works with both (6,5)-SWNTs and larger TuballTM tubes. Just out in Chem. Eur. J. chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @chemistryeurope.bsky.social

4/5

Microwave-Driven Exfoliation of Bulk 2H-MoS2 after Acetonitrile Prewetting Produces Large-Area Ultrathin Flakes with Exceptionally High Yield 2D materials display exciting properties in numerous fields, but the development of applications is hindered by the low yields, high processing times, and impaired quality of current exfoliation methods. In this work we have used the excellent MW absorption properties of MoS2 to induce a fast heating that produces the near-instantaneous evaporation of an adsorbed, low boiling point solvent. The sudden evaporation creates an internal pressure that separates the MoS2 layers with high efficiency, and these are kept separated by the action of the dispersion solvent. Our fast method (90 s) gives high yields (47% at 0.2 mg/mL, 35% at 1 mg/mL) of highly exfoliated material (90% under 4 layers), large area (up to several μm2), and excellent quality (no significant MoO3 detected).

The quality is as good as using the batch exfoliation method we recently described in ACS Nano @pubs.acs.org (pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....). Flakes are hundreds of nm to microns in lateral size, and more than 90% are <5 nm (1-4 layers).

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Continuous exfoliation of 2H-MoS2 in a microwave-heated microfluidic contactor Microwave (MW)-assisted exfoliation of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been demonstrated to produce exceptionally large area (in the µm2 range), ultra…

This, together with Jesús Santamaría and Víctor Sebastián @inmadivulga.bsky.social is to produce large and ultrathin flakes of MoS2, using microwaves and microfluidics: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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